Lynyrd Skynyrd Anger Some Fans by Denouncing the Confederate Flag

Legendary Southern rockers Lynyrd Skynyrd have angered some fans by announcing that they will stop using the confederate flag, which for much of their career had been featured prominently on their stages, logos, t-shirts and other tour merchandise.

The band's lone original member, guitarist Gary Rossington, recently told CNN that the group does recognize the racial divide that comes with the flag, which was flown by the confederacy of 11 southern "slave" states who seceded from America during the Civil War.

As he explained, "Through the years, people like the KKK and skinheads kinda kidnapped the Dixie or Southern flag from its tradition and the heritage of the soldiers. That's what it's all about. We didn't want that to go to our fans or show the image like we agreed with any of the race stuff or any of the bad things."

However, not all fans agree with this decision. A number of them criticized the group on the CNN message board. One hit out at the band for just erasing the imagery altogether rather than attempting to educate their fans. It was also suggested repeatedly that by removing the Confederate imagery, the group was alienating a segment of their audience -- those who identified with the band's longtime embrace of all things southern.

Another commenter simply altered a Skynyrd lyric, explaining, "Well I hope Lynyrd Skynyrd will remember, a Southern man don't need THEM around anyhow."